


The Ties that Bind

by A_Writer_of_Whimsy



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aurora - Freeform, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, M/M, Multi, Nothing explicit, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Sort of a Mix of Prime and G1 AU, Spark Sexual Interfacing (Transformers), Transformer Sparklings, Ursa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Writer_of_Whimsy/pseuds/A_Writer_of_Whimsy
Summary: Starscream stumbles upon a seekerling at a neutral colony, and a whole new set of complications arise. Megatron is just as displeased as he is to discover that Orion Pax kept a very personal secret from them. Orion just wants to keep his daughters safe, but he knows he can't keep them out of the war forever.The daughters in question are not happy about decisions being made for them. Not one bit!
Relationships: Megatron/Orion Pax, Megatron/Starscream, Megatron/Starscream/Orion Pax
Comments: 7
Kudos: 48





	1. Prologue

Orion Pax knew the dangers of going to Kaon and seeing Megatron in person. He knew as an archivist his words wouldn’t carry much weight, but he wanted to at least try. He read the postings on the forums, he listened to the holovids, and he went to the underground meetings of the revolution. He agreed with their sentiments, and found his spark yearning to meet the mech who called out for change. 

When he saw Megatron in the arena, he knew his life was irrevocably changed. 

His spark whirled within his chassis, thrumming hard as the gladiator fought with his opponent. The gargantuan triple changer towered over the silver form of the miner turned pit fighter. He watched in fascinated horror as Megatron sliced through the purple bot’s legs, curving his blade to decapitate his opponent. 

A sword bathed in energon speared into the air, and the crowd roared. ME-GA-TRON! ME-GA-TRON! They stomped their feet and banged their fists against their chests, all of them in beat to the name of the victorious mech below. 

After the battles of the day, Orion followed other mechs into a room behind the gladiator arena. Many of them were fans, some vying for simple attention and recognition while others hoped to help in the revolutionary efforts, like Orion. He noted how small he was in comparison to the other mechs, and featured much less armor. The others noticed and chuckled about a “mid-caste slumming it with us low brows,” but he tried to pay it no mind. 

Eventually, Megatron and his entourage came out back. He spoke with the armored mechs first, thanking them for joining his ranks. Orion patiently waited his turn, allowing the others their chance. Now that he was so close, he second guessed his worth. Surely an archivist wasn’t that necessary? Perhaps he should leave. Simply slip out the back and just give up on this whole idea? 

He pushed down his worries. He came all the way from Iacon. He just needed to try. The worst that could happen was Megatron said no, and he returned home a little sparkbroken but otherwise fine. As Megatron came before him, Orion did his best to lift his head high and speak with confidence. 

“Hello, my name is Orion Pax, and I’ve come to help.” 

Megatron stared down at him, a small half-smile on his lips. “Welcome, Orion.” He put a heavy hand on Orion’s shoulder. “Please, tell me what you offer.” 

Bringing up all his courage, Orion said, “I am an archivist of Iacon. I don’t know if perhaps you need mechs capable of translation or otherwise more desk work sort of services but-.” 

“Yes!” Megatron interrupted grabbing both of Orion’s shoulders in his huge hands. “Yes, Orion Pax, you are desperately needed here.” 

Oh, thank Primus. 

~~~

The months passed as Orion spent his life on two sides of Cybertron. Every free moment, he would slip away to Kaon. Diligently, he worked with Soundwave in the Communications Hub beneath the city, pouring over the various communiques from the other underground networks. Orion loved this kind of work, and he felt oddly right at home amongst the rough and tough mechs of Kaon. 

Most of them knew him by name or sight by that point, and more often than not relied upon him to send their encrypted messages to comrades on the far reaches of the planet. Sometimes, a mech would try to persuade Orion for a drink or more after his long shifts, but everyone stopped trying when they noted Megatron taking a vested interest in the data clerk. 

It started off with a small conversation when Megatron would check in. Then, it became Megatron bringing him a cube or two when Orion forgot to take breaks. It developed to a point where Megatron would come right off the arena stairs and straight down into the depths of the city to speak with Orion about their philosophical differences of opinion. 

“You can’t be serious,” Megatron proclaimed as he sipped on his high grade. He sat beside the main terminal, out of the way enough as Orion typed up a message. “Organic life cannot be equal to the lives of Cybertronians, whether in practice or theory. Organics often die before they live even a fourth of our lives. Why should a turbo-ant be placed on the same level as a god?”

“Firstly, we are not gods,” Orion rebutted with a fond glare sent in Megatron’s direction. “Secondly, I don’t mean all organic life. I believe in the words of Primus, that freedom is the right of all sentient beings. It is well documented that some organic life among the stars holds sentience. Therefore, they deserve the same rights to freedom as a Cybertronian, but not necessarily the same status of importance, perhaps.” 

“Perhaps, he says, as if there could be doubt.” Megatron chuffed and knocked back the rest of his cube. “I suppose enslaving an entire organic populace would serve little purpose in any case. Small bodies, small lives, what would really be the point? Best to leave them well enough alone and continue on our own path.” 

“Agreed, more or less. I cannot foresee a future where a sentient organic creature and a Cybertronian could come to understand one another. From the journals of Nova Prime and other before him, organics tend to hate us on sight. I like to leave room for the possibility anyway.” Orion sent off his message and finally picked up his cube. “Not that I expect to personally encounter any such organic in the future. Space doesn’t really appeal to me.” 

“No? I rather like the idea. Going offworld to explore, finding new galaxies to discover? I could see myself enjoying such things.” Megatron leaned forward until their heads were a breath apart. “I would like to have you with me to archive the experience, of course.” 

Orion tried to hide his smile behind his cube. “For you, Megatron, I would go anywhere.” 

~~~ 

Megatron watched Orion Pax work. His tap, tap, tapping on the monitor before him never ceased. The archivist's optics roamed over lines of communiques from Soundwave and the other revolutionary mechs, some needing this information or that about this law or that specific edict. With Orion Pax on his side, Megatorn foresaw a time in the near future that he could overthrow the Senate and the damned Functionists. 

However, Orion always worked too hard. He'd been at that station for over a day. Megatron brought him an evening ration along with another cube for himself. He walked over and gently set the cube in front of his friend. 

"You should at least take a break," Megatron admonished lightly. "I can't have my one and only archivist falling into stasis."

"Please, I'm more than over the red line," Orion sent off a message with a satisfied smile. He picked up his cube to sip on it. "Thank you."

"Of course," Megatron said, leaning over Orion's frame. "But I don't give something for nothing."

Orion turned to give the ex-gladiator a knowing grin. "And what would you like in return?"

Megatron brought his lips close to Orion's. "I can think of a few things." 

~~~

Orion Pax knew he loved Megatron long before he said the words aloud. He murmured them against the silver mech’s back, spooned up against him on a cold night. The apartments of Kaon had thin walls, but Megatron wrapped him up in thermal blankets and placed pillows against the wall to cushion the chilly metal. 

Megatron rolled over. Half awake, he nuzzled his face against Orion’s and sought his lips. They kissed lazily, easy and relaxed in the berth. When Megatron pulled away he muttered, “Tell me again when I don’t have to wake up early and I’ll show you how much I love you back.” 

“Promises, promises,” Orion said with a fond smile. He let Megatron draw him in closer before they both fell into a deep recharge. 

~~~

Starscream's jealousy burned under his armour. He wanted to have Megatron's full attention, but he was  _ sharing _ it instead. The thrice bedamned archivist opened his chestplates wide for their leader, and everyone knew that any attacks upon Orion would be met with a very vicious retaliation. 

Even if Starscream warmed the berth after Pax returned to Iacon, he wanted to have  _ more _ . Megatron refused him love or attention, only the good frag of a mech who needed to sate his lust. Anger curdled within Starscream's spark, and impotent fury he couldn't even act upon. 

Until one night, Megatron ordered Starscream to help Orion get back from a bar in one piece. Starscream easily assisted the slim archivist back to his guest quarters in Kaon, walking with the drunken moron back with one arm over his shoulders.

"Your wings are so pretty," Orion told him, voice slightly staticy as he tried to stay upright. "And you're so smart. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Once or twice," Starscream grumbled. "Just hush, we're almost there."

"You can stay if you'd like?" Orion said, his head ducking down. "Sorry, that was forward and rude. I-."

Starscream slung him over his shoulder and ignited his thrusters. Fine, let Orion feel the crackle of his spark. He wanted it, and it might even help him to stop hating the mech. 

A win-win all around, really.

When he walked into the Communications Hub the next day, he sat next to Orion, pretending to ignore the glaring Megatron on the blushing archivists other side. “So, dinner tonight at eight?”

Orion sputtered, “A-as in all three of us?” 

“Why not?” Starscream shrugged. “Seekers prefer trines, anyway.” 

Which was true, although honestly Starscream never thought before this point he would create a relationship trine. And yet, there they all were. 

~~~

A year later, Orion told Starscream he loved him. With a huff, Starscream picked him up bridal style and tossed him onto the berth. He showed rather than told Orion how he felt the same. When Megatron came into the room some time later, he joined them. 

In a tangle of limbs and electric currents sliding up and down their forms, Orion asked, “Can we just stay right here? Always?” 

Starscream kissed down along Orion’s shoulder. “Just for today, at least.” 

Megatron pulled them both closer. “When peace reigns, we can have this forever.” 

~~~

The complaints from Orion came softly at first. Here and there, little faults he found with Megatron's new policy that included violence. Orion never made it a secret he wanted a peaceful transition to the new way of things, but Megatron saw the Senate would never budge, not so long as they could keep all the power to themselves. 

Orion accompanied Megatron to a meeting with the Senate. Starscream took it from the demeanor of both mechs when they returned that things didn't go according to plan at all. Megatron shouted at his once lover and friend until he was purple in the face. Shockingly, Orion actually yelled in return. 

"I didn't accept it!" Orion cried out. "I do believe in this cause and I do believe in you-!"

"It didn't sound like it when you stabbed me in the back on that pedestal!" Megatron pointed at him. "You either stand with me or against me, Orion. No more playing both sides, no more standing on the knife's edge between us. You choose here and now!"

Orion turned to Starscream, and then back to Megatron with pleading optics. "I can't follow a path into violence that would shatter Cybertron. I can't condone a civil war." 

Megatron stepped back. "Then go." He swept a long arm in the direction of the door. "Do not return to Kaon. Do not return to me." 

Orion left with coolant tears leaking down his face. Starscream nearly chased after him, to try and convince the archivist not to abandon everything they'd worked so hard to achieve. However, having Megatron all to himself proved too heady a call, so he let Orion go. 

~~~

Nearly a full year passed in warfare before Megatron stepped with his army outside of Iacon. Starscream had sent a message out via all communications about the Decepticon's arrival. "Bow before us and you shall be spared!" was the general idea. The Senate, of course, refused.

Starscream also sent out a message in private to the Iacon Library. "Megatron has a bounty on your head. For alive there are significantly higher numbers at stake, but there is a prize for dead. Do try not to die, Orion Pax. I would hate to mourn you." 

Megatron shifted to give Starscream a look. "He knows, then?"

"He's been informed, so far as I am able to know." He could see the spire of the library from where they stood upon a cliff. "He might've already escaped the city." 

"If he fled, the Functionists will capture him in Praxus if he tries to enter. Best we get our hands on him and throw him into a cell before…" Megatron didn't finish. They'd seen enough of their comrades coming back from the camps. 

"I agree," Starscream said softly. "He's a soft sparked fool, but he's  _ our _ soft sparked fool." 

They would find him, for Orion's own good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: 
> 
> Starscream froze. 
> 
> A tiny, little seekerling was looking over the city. Her optics surveyed left and right, her white wings twitching behind her as she mapped out her trajectory. It was uncanny how similar her painting was to his own! From the white thrusters to the red cockpit, and the blue hands, it was like looking at a far younger version of himself. 
> 
> Unnerved yet curious, he walked up to the child. "Excuse me? What's your designation, little one?" 
> 
> The femme shot him a death glare and curled her lip at him. "Leave me alone, creep! I don't talk to strangers." She huffed in disdain and jumped off the side of the building.


	2. Hello There

Starscream arrived at the neutral planet Alethios with Deadlock and Soundwave. The neutral colony was one of the few left in the outer rims not yet under Decepticon control. The last remaining dredges of the Senate fought tooth and nail to try and take it over, but Alethios managed to stubbornly keep its neutrality through seemingly sheer grit and strategy. 

Megatron was quite impressed with the tenacity of the quite small yet determined little colonized rock. He asked for Starscream to simply broker an alliance for shared resources and information. After all, sometimes a warlord must woo his intended subjects, instead of through force alone. 

The orbital ship arrived at a docking bay just outside the city limits. Kemplar, the colony’s capital, was surrounded on all sides by towering walls and huge spires. For Starscream, it reminded him of Vos, but these spires were definitely militaristic. His optics zoomed in on the artillery on the walls as well. Mecha stood at attention there, glaring at the newcomers, but none moved to arm their weapons. 

Starscream didn’t have to wait long on the bay before the leader of the colony came to meet him. Highbeam was a rather big and lean mech, designed for being a speed courier in the Functionist Era. He still bore the white and black stripes from his time as one. He stepped up to meet the seeker, bowing slightly before him.

"Welcome, Commander Starscream." Highbeam gave him a tight smile. "A pleasure to see you." 

_ You're a terrible lair, _ Starscream almost said, but opted for a more diplomatic approach. "Such graciousness is such a nice change of pace. We're usually dodging incoming fire." 

Highbeam nodded, then pointed up to the spires over their heads. "Our own weapons are currently offline for a space attack." He motioned to the city behind him. "Kemplar is an engineering focused city. We’re constantly improving our defenses, testing them out and fixing them as quickly as possible.” 

“Amazing,” and Starscream meant what he said. 

The city looked like no other neutral port from recent memory. Whereas most of them salvaged and scavaged for parts, Kemplar looked like something from the Golden Age. It also looked more heavily fortified than the other cities, designed with protection in mind over pretty appearances, yet somehow managed to blend both together very well. 

“Thank you!” Highbeam motioned to a transport shuttle. “We can take this to the capitol building. It won’t take long.” 

When they entered the shuttle, Deadlock checked the space for possible ambush spots. He was almost disappointed to find an open area with no where for assassins (like himself) to hide. Soundwave scanned the whole ship for any listening devices, but was also disappointed to find none. They sent the all clear to Starscream over comms. 

Highbeam was still chattering away at the Decepticon SIC. “Our energon supplies come from renewable sources, such as solar and wind. The planet has some nice geothermal resources, as well. We have enough to keep the colony going, but if Megatron expects Alethios to be a goldmine, I’m sorry to report the surplus isn’t quite that grand.” 

“Energon needs aren’t the only things we wish to have, although it is of course high on the priority list.” Starscream motioned to the city. “I think architects and engineers who could solve a few problems for us would be well appreciated. It always helps to have a few well educated bots.” 

Starscream also thought to himself,  _ And if we manage to win over them all, the Senate won’t have a chance to snatch them away with shanix and false promises.  _

“Well, that could be a possibility. If you don’t mind some of them even working remotely, you could definitely expand that to working family bots.” Highbeam stopped in front of a huge domed building. “Here we are!” 

Everyone filed out and walked out onto the balcony. Deadlock and Soundwave scanned for possible threats again, but there were only more guards with relaxed stances. Mecha milled about here and there with datapads in hands, talking about various matters. When they caught sight of their entourage, most decided to take their conversations somewhere else. 

Starscream noted how many of the workers appeared cold forged, so most if not all of them knew the harsh thumb of the Functionist Senate. No wonder they wanted nothing to do with them. 

“Would it be too much to presume that most here were factory made?” Starscream asked in a hushed tone. 

“No, not really.” Highbeam shrugged. “None of us really agree with the code of ‘peace through tyranny,’ but ‘everyone serves a function’ doesn’t really ring true either. We’re figuring out our own path.” 

Starscream rolled his optics, but didn’t argue the point. There would be time later to make them all come around, either through force or otherwise. They entered a rather subdued meeting room. 

Highbeam sat them at a round table, motioning for everyone to sit as they pleased. Deadlock politely refused and moved to stand by the door and Soundwave followed him to stand on the other side of the opening. 

Starscream waved a hand in dismissal at Highbeam’s discomfort. “It’s from past experiences with mechs trying to barge in and shoot me. You’re not in any danger.” He sat down and pulled out a datapad from his subspace. “Alright, so have you read through everything?” 

“Yes,” Highbeam brought up a hologram in the center of the table. “I agree to most things, but a few provisions…”

“Fine, fine, let’s get one with it.” 

~~~

Not even an hour later and Starscream had the stamp of approval. He was all set to head back to the ship. However, Highbeam invited him and his entourage for a tour of the captiol building as well as dinner. Starscream agreed, appearing outwardly to be just oh-so happy about spending more time away from the Nemesis.

Deadlock asked him over comms, “If you want to go, just say so. I don’t think he’d be upset about it.” 

“Shut up! We can’t be rude.” Starscream glared at him before returning back to listening to Highbeam prattle in his ear. They were walking along the inside of the building, going up the highest rooftop balcony. 

“It’s quite a sight at sunset!” Highbeam grinned. “There are even crystals from Praxus up there. Some people who fled made sure to grab a few, and we’ve managed to cultivate a whole garden. It took years, of course-YOU AGAIN! Get away from the ledge!” 

Starscream froze. 

A tiny, little seekerling was looking over the city. Her optics surveyed left and right, her white wings twitching behind her as she mapped out her trajectory. She had one thruster up on the ledge while the other stayed on the ground. Someone must’ve taught her about balancing her cockpit weight, but he saw no seekers on his journey to the capitol building.

It was uncanny how similar her painting was to his own! From the white thrusters to the red cockpit, and the blue hands, it was like looking at a far younger version of himself. 

Unnerved yet curious, he walked up to the child. "Excuse me? What's your designation, little one?" 

The femme shot him a death glare and curled her lip at him. "Leave me alone, creep! I don't talk to strangers." She huffed in disdain and jumped off the side of the building. 

"Wait!" Starscream called out, but it was too late. The mini-him transformed and shot off into the horizon. 

Highbeam sighed beside him. “Just ignore her, she’s always flying from places she shouldn’t. I’ll have to contact her creator-.”

Starscream wasn’t listening. He ran up to the ledge himself and jumped off. He deftly transformed in midair and followed in hot pursuit. Immediately, Deadlock hit his comms.

“Starscream! Come back! Highbeam is freaking out!” 

“Tell him I’m not going to hurt her! I just want to talk!”

Soundwave interrupted. “Query: Why are you chasing the sparkling?”

“Because she’s a seeker! I’ve never seen a seekerling before, not in person. They are so rare! I have to find their creator. Maybe we can-.” 

“What? Kidnap a kid’s parent?” Deadlock’s exasperation managed to come over the comms. 

“I don’t know, I just have to talk to them.” Starscream needed to know why she looked like him, too. His plating wasn’t common, especially not for a seeker. How was it even possible? 

He caught up quickly. The femme dodged around a tall spire, trying to loose him on the u-turn. Starscream easily cut his thrust and swung himself around before igniting again. She went through tight spaces between buildings, but Starscream simply went around them or over them. She was fast, but he had more fuel in his tanks, not to mention hundreds of years on practice. 

The little femme took him all across the city, and he followed her to-and-fro. It was almost fun, and for once he wasn’t flying with intent to kill something. He appreciated how hard she banked and dove, even going so far as to skim over the bots in a town square. He just did the same, not even bothered about knocking a few people down from the force of his jets. 

Eventually, she tired out. At a park on the eastern side of Kemplar, she transformed back into bi-pedal mode. 

“Quite following me, you psycho!” the seekerling shouted, stomping her thruster into the ground. 

Starscream transformed and walked over to her. “Now, now, no need to throw a tantrum. I just want to talk to your creator.” 

“Too bad! He doesn’t want anything to do with the Cons or the Autoduds.” 

Starscream quirked a brow. “They’re called Autobots.” 

“I know what I said and I stick by it!” she shrieked. “Stay away from me!” 

Starscream leaned down with his hands on his hips. “I am the Second in Command of the Decepticons, and I demand to see your creator and if you’ve got a sire-.” 

“Don’t and don’t need one. Go away!” The femme turned to head to the right and flinched. “Creator…”

Starscream turned around. His spark stuttered in its casing. Orion Pax stood at the edge of the park. His face was twisted up in that concerned expression he’d seen so often towards the end of the war, so scared and yet so determined. 

With one hand, he held the hand of a blocky, grey femme behind him. He put a diplomatic hand up and moved one step at a time forward. 

“Orion…” Starscream couldn’t manage to say anything more. He never expected to see him again, actually gave up hope some time ago. Yet, here they were, with...two femmes...

“Starscream, please,” he pleaded, “let me get my daughter.” 

“Your what?” Starscream’s processor short circuited. 

He whipped his head to the seekerling, then back to Orion, then back to the girl. He finally stopped and locked optics with Orion. Daughter, with his plating, his paint, Orion Pax, his once lover,  **_withtwosparklingsaboutthesameage,_ ** a sparkling with his jet design-! 

“Why was our sparkling flying by herself?!” He suddenly shouted, surprising even himself. 

Orion winced and gritted his denta. “She’s supposed to be grounded, actually.” 

He made a gesture, beckoning the little femme to him. She didn’t hesitate to run past Starscream and hide behind Orion’s leg. From her safe spot, she glared at Starscream while peeking out from behind Orion’s knee. 

Starscream stomped up to the group. “Explain yourself! Why didn’t you tell me? That is my sparkling! Wait, and is?” Starscream got a better look at the other femme.

At the same height as his own sparkling, she had the face of Orion, but the rest of her was miner caste all over her. Her bright blue optics blinked up at him not with the disdain but curiosity. 

“Yes,” Orion didn’t even bother to deny it. “Aurora is your daughter.” He squeezed the hand of his other child. “And Ursa’s sire is Megatron.” 

Starscream made a choking noise. “Of course she is! Orion, you have the heirs to the Decepticon throne on this nowhere planet-!” 

“They are born free, and they will stay that way.” Orion Pax shook his head. “They’re not pawns in this war.” 

“Oh, don’t be an idiot!” Starscream poked a finger into Orion’s chestplates. “You know that Megatron won’t just let you keep his own daughter away from him. You’re a bigger fool if you think I will, too!” 

“Shut up and go away!” Aurora shouted at him. “We were doing fine without you.” 

Ursa clapped a hand over her sister’s mouth. “Stop! Let them talk.” 

Aurora smacked her sister’s hand away. 

Starscream growled. Of course Orion poisoned his child against him! He glared at the mech with fury, wings up high and twitching. 

Orion admonished his daughter lightly, “Aurora, that was rude. Please, let us talk.” 

Starscream screeched, “There is nothing to talk about! I am returning tomorrow and when I do you had better hand over the children, Pax. If you don’t, no more negotiations. We take this planet! Am I clear?” 

Orion stood his ground. “By tomorrow you had come up with a better ultimatum, or I’m taking the girls through a spacebridge.” 

“What?!” Starscream bared his denta. “You lie, there are no spacebridges on this planet. There isn’t enough energy output to suggest such a thing.” 

Orion didn’t retort back, just stared him down. 

Starscream reviewed everything Highbeam said in this tour. It was possible for an engineering focused planet to have figured out better energy output for a spacebridge, even a way to re-route or recycle it? Starscream balled his hands into fists.

“Fine, tomorrow we’ll meet at the capitol building. Lord Megatron himself will bring the conditions of your surrender.” Starscream turned on his heel and transformed. 

He left behind a shaking pair of femmes, both clinging desperately to their creator. Orion went down on one knee and scooped them up into his arms. “It’s alright. Everything will be fine.” 

“Creator,” Ursa asked, “what are we gonna do?” 

Orion squeezed them tight. “No matter what, I’ll keep you safe.” He kissed the top of their heads. “I promise.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> “I’m not leaving without them, Pax,” Megatron slammed his fist onto the table. 
> 
> “You get two choices then,” Orion said, unfazed by the display. “You’ll take me with you, and I will bring them along to your ship. Or you can keep demanding them without me and I’ll leave with them to a different planet. Either way, Lord Megatron,” Orion’s voice was strong as steel, “you’re not separating these children from their creator.” 
> 
> Highbeam interrupted. “Is this what you really want? To be known across the galaxy as sparkling thieves? Because rest assured, I will broadcast your cruelty-.”
> 
> “Cruelty?!” Starscream screeched. “Cruelty is keeping my daughter from me for a decade!”


	3. The Real Negotiations

Orion Pax took his shell-shocked children home immediately after their frightening encounter. He cursed himself for not checking in on Aurora during his break. He knew she wouldn't understand why he grounded her for the day. He'd tried to explain it wasn't a punishment, just a precaution while the Decepticons were on the planet. 

Aurora wasn't looking at him, her optics firmly in the ground and her wings down low, obviously guilt ridden. Ursa touched her arm gently, and Aurora didn't smack it away. Definitely feeling awful about her flight. 

They entered their modest little habsuite not far from the park, only a short walk to the public library. It was a rounded rectangular little home, one of many like it all down the main road.  He closed and locked the door behind him, setting down the girls. Their kitchen and living room where all in one, and just down a narrow hallway was the girls' room on the left. Orion's was to the right. Both rooms were about the same size, which was to say, cramped but livable. At the very end of the hall was a washrack with a shallow tub and shower. 

Orion sent a quick comm to Highbeam, "We're home, all three of us."

"Commander Starscram has returned here. He's quite irate. I'll talk to you later."

Orion hated the foreboding tone. Highbeam was one of three mecha on the planet who knew about the girls' parentage. He wouldn't let Starscream or Megatron just take them, but he was also trying to save his planet from invading forces. He feared there was a losing battle ahead. 

Aurora still wouldn't look at him. Ursa was holding her in a loose hug, trying to comfort her. 

Orion went down on one knee. "Aurora, I'm not angry with you."

"But you are disappointed." Aurora finally flicked her optics to his. "Aren't you?"

He decided not to agree or disagree with that assessment. "I thought you understood how important it was to stay here. Why did you go out?" Orion asked instead. 

Aurora's lower lip trembled. "I thought they weren't supposed to arrive until later. I hacked the database. I found the itinerary, and it said not until the evening." 

Orion sighed. "I see, well, now you're grounded for three days for  _ breaking the law _ , again I might add. And in the future, assume negotiations need a twenty four hour timeframe to be finalized, as in morning until night." 

"Yes, creator," Aurora said, turning her optics away again. Coolant pooled in them, and Orion reached out to rub the tears away. 

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. What’s done is done, we can only move on.” 

Ursa held her sister a little tighter. "We're not going to leave, are we? They can't just take us?"

Orion sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetspark, I can't promise you that we get to stay. Your sires, Megatron and Starscream, they are very powerful mechs. We will have to see what happens tomorrow, but I will be with you no matter what.” 

"But we don't want to leave, please, tell them we don't." Ursa looked around the habsuite. "This is our home.” 

“I’ll tell them.” Orion rubbed their helms and knocked all their foreheads together. “Hey, we’re a team, and we’re a strong one, too. I’ve got the two smartest sparklings in all creation.” 

“Right,” Ursa said, a small smile coming over her face. “We can defeat them, if we need to.” 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Orion rubbed her helm again before standing up. “I would rather you didn’t destroy your own sire, Ursa. If it comes to it, we’ll simply flee.” 

“I could totally destroy Starscream,” Aurora mumbled. 

“No, we’re not destroying anyone.” Orion sighed and pinched his nasal ridge. “It’s been a long day. I’ll get the cubes ready. You two go bring your homework to the table. If we’re still here by the end of the week, Stormcloud and Epirion will want to see your progress.” 

Aurora and Ursa trudged back to their shared room. Orion went to the dispenser and pressed the buttons for low grade. He thought over his options as he watched the cubes fill up. He knew he might have to go on the run again. He had shanix saved up, he had another planet in the rims outside of both Senate and Decepticon control. He could take them and leave. 

However, he hadn’t planned on running with Megatron and Starscream knowing about the twins existence. He brought a hand to his chestplates. His spark whirled hard in its casing. Megatron and Starscream wouldn’t stop looking for them. He knew the bounty for his head was still active, but with the twins on top of his own? It wouldn’t be a good life for the girls. 

Orion shut his optics and invented deeply. He would figure it out. He would keep them safe. 

“Creator?” 

He opened his optics to see Aurora at his pedes. She was looking up at him with her face scrunched up in concern. 

Orion couldn’t help put lean down to pick her up. He hugged her close. “I still love you very much. You know that, right?” 

“I know.” Aurora hid her face under his chin. “I’m sorry.” 

“I know you are.” Orion turned around to place her in a chair at the dinner table. “I’ll bring the cubes over. Go ahead and get started.” 

Ursa came in with three datapads in her hands. Both Aurora and Orion blinked as the pads clattered onto the table. Ursa met their befuddled stares with one of her own. 

“What?” Ursa pointed to the first one. “This one is for thermal detonators,” she pointed to the next, “this one is the history of warfare during the Praxus Civil Dispute,” and then the third one, “and of course the architectural achievements of the Praxian mecha throughout the Golden Age and beyond.” 

“Thermal detonators?” Orion asked as he set the low grade cubes down for the girls. 

“It’s just a hobby. Bombs are interesting.” Ursa shrugged. “I’ve moved on from motion triggers and sticky bombs.” 

“That’s...a little terrifying.” Orion moved back to the dispenser. “You’re not planning on making any of these, I assume.” 

“Of course not!” Ursa grabbed the tablet and booted it on. “Besides, most of these materials are super expensive and hard to find on this planet. The closest system would be-.” 

“Ursa, no, just no!” Aurora waved her arms around wildly. “Bad idea!”

“I said I wasn’t going to!” Ursa pointed to the first page, which had a diagram of the parts and how to put them together. “Look, it’s impossible to make here.”

Orion came over to sit with them. He took the tablet and quickly read over the page. “I feel uncomfortable with you having this information, all the same. Who gave you these?” 

Ursa shrugged. “Epirion made me swear that I’d never attempt to make one. He’s got a whole shelf dedicated to it.”

Orion put that tablet aside. “Seems I’ll have to have a talk with him about appropriate materials for sparklings.” 

“Stormcloud is helping me create a network.” Aurora showed Orion her tablet. “It’s small, of course, but it’s part of the Alethios network project she’s working on. She wants me finding holes in security protocols. The current count is ten.” 

“Good job,” Orion scrolled down the lines of code, “and I see you’re adding your own patches.” 

“Yeah, but I’m not good at it.” Aurora pointed at her most recent patch. “I’m better at breaking through and taking code apart. Putting it together? It’s kind of a mess.” 

“You’re improving and learning, that’s what matters.” Orion laughed. “You know, Starscream is such a perfectionist, too.” 

Aurora pouted and looked away. “I don’t want to be anything like him.” 

Ursa peered at her from over her tablet. “You, uh, kind of look like him, though?” 

Aurora scowled at her, and Orion didn’t point out their scowls were also identical. Instead, he rubbed a knuckle along her cheek. “You’re going to figure out the codes. I know it. It’ll just take time.” 

Aurora nodded and picked up her cube to sip it. For a while, it was any other day. Orion let his daughters talk about their various projects. He listened, helped when he could assist. If he didn’t know, he would show them how to search for the information through the library uplink on their tablets. He spent a decent amount of his own time and labor creating the library access, public and free to all on Alethios. His girls drank their cubes. 

Eventually, it devolved into them telling him stories of their day, tablets forgotten. Ursa told him about her latest spire model. Epirion praised her on it and took her own to get energon goodies. Ursa shared some with Aurora (before leaving to be seen by her long lost sire). Aurora told him about accidentally scaring Stormcloud with a hologram she programmed.

Their family hour was interrupted with a chime from their front door. All three of them sat still, listening. Orion stood up and motioned for the girls to go to their room. He checked the camera and sighed in relief. 

“Highbeam, you could’ve used comms,” Orion moved to let the leader of Alethios come into his modest home. 

“I wanted to check in on everyone.” Highbeam walked into the girls room. “My favorite femmes!” 

“Beam!” Ursa leapt into his arms. A more subdued Aurora just hugged him once around his leg. Highbeam patted their helms before gently pushing them back into the room. 

“Your creator and I are going to talk for a bit. Do me a favor and just stay put, ok?” 

Highbeam gave them his winning smile. “You can do that for me, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ursa said. “We can do that.”

“Good.” Highbeam turned back to Orion as he closed their door. “I’ve got a silencer in my subspace. Is it ok if I place it on the table?” 

“I suppose so.” Orion watched as Highbeam set a small device on the table. He pressed it and four petal like metal parts opened up. A white, silvery sheen went all over the room. 

“Starscream will be back at dawn.” Highbeam put a hand on Orion’s shoulder. “Sorry, actually, before we get into the thick of it, how are you? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought them up to the balcony. I knew it was her favorite place to jump from-.”

“No, no, you assumed like I did that Aurora was safe and here.” Orion wiped a hand over his face. “I should’ve come over at lunch, I should’ve made sure she would stay.” 

“It’s not your fault.” Highbeam cupped Orion’s cheek. “But why was she there?”

“She hacked the database.”

“Again?”

“Yes, and she thought she had enough time to fly out.” Orion leaned away from the touch. “Highbeam…”

“I know.” Highbeam dropped his hand, and his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I hate this. We were just getting to know each other, I…” He shook his helm. “Forget it, apologies, this isn’t about me or us. Starscream will be back at dawn. He claims he will bring Megatron with him.”

Orion nodded. “Starscream said as much when he discovered everything.”

Highbeam lifted a fist. “I’ll escort you to the capital myself. I’ve got the biggest and strongest mechs coming, too. We will not let him or his army take you three.” 

“Highbeam, I appreciate your desire to protect us, to keep us here.” Orion smiled at him sadly. “But I can’t let you go to war over us. I see only two ways out of this mess. I go with the girls to the Decepticons, or we run again.” 

“Orion, no, please!” Highbeam grabbed Orion’s hand. “Those are terrible options! Alethios has kept the Senate and Decepticons at bay since the beginning. We can keep you all here.” 

“You’ve never had the full might and hatred of the Decepticons fall upon you.” Orion squeezed Highbeam’s hand and let it go. “Just promise me you’ll keep the spacebridge on, just in case.” 

Highbeam ducked his helm down. He bit his lip and shuttered his optics. “I don’t want to let you all go.” 

“I know.” Orion put a hesitant hand on Highbeam’s shoulder. “Thank you, for giving us what time we had.” 

~~~

After Highbeam left, Orion told the girls the shortened version of their talk. Then, he ordered them to get cleaned up for the night. After they got all toweled off, he tucked them into their beds. The girls’ room was a shared little space. Both of them had a toy chest at the bottom of their berths, shelves for knick knacks. 

Ursa like grey and purple, so her side of the room was painted in that motif. The more artistic one, she painted mecha from history books and fairy tales on her wall. Aurora had the dawn, all reds and oranges blended together. Above them, Orion painted the night sky as he knew it from Cybertron, Luna-2 orbiting and all. 

Ursa curled up in her thermal sheets and asked, “Can you tell me about my sire, Megatron?” 

Aurora groaned and turned to the wall. “Not interested.” 

Orion sat on Ursa’s small berth. “What would you like to know?” 

“Is he really like the holovids say? Merciless? Without remorse?” She whispered, “I mean, is he evil?” 

Orion shook his helm. “He’s...complicated, but not evil.” He poked Ursa in the nose. “And I think you’ve got all the best of him. His intelligence, his capability for compassion, his loyalty, and so much more.”

“Do you think he'd like me?” Ursa asked. 

Orion hesitated. “I wish I could tell you he would. I wish I could tell you that he’d fall in love you at first sight, like I did. At the same time, I don’t know, sweetspark. He has been leading a war, and that can change a bot.” 

“I hope he does.” Ursa reached out her hand to touch Orion. “I’ll still have you no matter what, though, so I think I’ll be ok.” 

“You do, and you will be.” Orion leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Get some recharge.” 

He moved over to Aurora. “You could ask for a story, if you’d like.”

Aurora didn’t move from her sulking position. “I don’t need one.” 

Orion leaned down to kiss the back of her helm. “Alright then, goodnight, love you both.” 

After a pause, Aurora’s soft voice said, “Love you, creator.” 

~~~

In the morning, before the sun even rose, Stormcloud came over to sparkling sit the girls. She tried to ask Orion what was wrong, but he only told her, “I’ll explain everything when I get back. Please, just stay with them.” The girls were still asleep, unaware of the meeting taking place.

Orion had emergency bags packed and ready at the door. He transferred his shanix to card he now carried in his subspace. He kept a datapad on him at all times anyway with the important documents for him and the girls. All the essentials were ready for a quick escape, more or less. 

Orion went with Highbeam and his tall guards to the capitol building quickly. On the way, Highbeam informed him, “The spacebridge is online. Epirion is there, ready to get you out, but I will endeavor not to let it come to that.”

“Thank you, Highbeam.” Orion sighed as he braced himself for the fateful meeting. “Megatron and Starscream will be furious. Be ready.” 

With the dawn, Lord Megatron of the Decepticons stomped into the meeting room with Starscream right behind him. He looked just like Orion remembered him, if with a few battle scars across his plating. The scowl was quite familiar. 

“Where are they?” Megatron’s voice boomed. 

“They’re asleep at home,” Orion said. “I wasn’t sure how you would react to the news of being a sire.” 

“What are you implying?” Megatron bared his denta. “I’m not going to hurt them! For Primus’ sake, what do you think I would do?”

“I have no idea, and that’s why they’re safe at home, where I know they will be fine.” Orion turned minutely to Starscream. “Have you told anyone else they’re here?” 

Starscream glared at him, but managed to grit out. “Soundwave and Deadlock know, but they won’t gossip.” 

“Good,” Orion nodded. “I can show you a picture of them, if you’d like?” 

Megatron’s scowl faltered. Starscream didn’t look as intrigued, but that was to be expected. Eventually, the overlord nodded his helm. 

Orion turned on the holoprojector on the table and showed the two girls. “One the left is Aurora, and one the right is Ursa. They are twins. As you might have guessed, Aurora was sired by Starscream and Ursa was sired by Megatron.” 

“Ah yes, and how did you manage that, by the way?” Starscream waved his hand in a frazzled way at the picture. “Twins should be split sparks! Not two different sparks.” 

Orion pointed to his chestplates. “My spark decided when it held two different energy signatures from two different mechs to then create two sparks. It’s very rare, I poured over research to find the answer, but trust me when I say the odds of it happening again will take eons.” 

Megatron turned to glare at Starscream. “The why of it is irrelevant! Look at her. She is your sparkling, and that one is mine! It only takes one look to know.” 

Starscream pointed at Aurora. “No, really? You think I didn’t notice?!” 

Megatron waved a hand in dismissal at him. “Shut up, Starscream.” 

Orion said, “The girls would like to stay on Alethios. They wanted me to convey that to you.” 

“I’m not leaving without them, Pax!” Megatron slammed his fist onto the table. 

The guards behind him powered on their weapons and Highbeam moved to stand right beside him. Orion held up a hand to hold back the violence. Eventually, the guards turned their guns back to stun. 

“You get two choices then,” Orion said, unfazed by the display. “You’ll take me with you, and I will bring them along to your ship. Or you can keep demanding them without me and I’ll leave with them to a different planet. Either way, Lord Megatron,” Orion’s voice was strong as steel, “you’re not separating these children from their creator.” 

Highbeam interrupted. “Is this what you really want? To be known across the galaxy as sparkling thieves? Because rest assured, I will broadcast your cruelty-.”

“Cruelty?!” Starscream screeched. “Cruelty is keeping my daughter from me for a decade!”

Megatron grunted in agreement, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “Here’s my ultimatum. It’s very short: give us our sparklings or die. If you want to come alone Orion, fine, but don’t expect to be welcomed with open arms.” 

Highbeam stomped up to the table. “So what will you do? Throw Orion in the brig as soon as he steps on the ship? Aurora and Ursa need their creator.” 

Starscream hissed. “He could be allowed limited guardianship, visitations and access if he performs-.” 

“No!” Highbeam crossed his arms and flung them away. “Absolutely not. We’re not doing the Functionist slag where the creator loses their rights upon emergence! I WON’T HAVE IT!” 

The silence slammed over the room. Starscream’s wing drooped low. Megatron stood stock still, his face impassive. 

In the Fuctionist Era, the only naturally born sparklings allowed to be raised by their creators were mid-caste and higher. Lower caste, often cold forged and factory made mecha, didn’t get to keep their own creations if discovered by the authorities. The sparklings would be taken, and then raised for “their intended function.” 

Megatron broke the silence first. “We deserve a chance to know our own progeny without the interference of their creator, who I’ve heard has poisoned them against us.” 

Orion said, “I have done no such thing. Ursa wants to meet you. She wants to know you. Aurora...is opinionated.”

“About literally everyone and everything,” Highbeam finished for him, “so don’t take it personally.” 

“It sounds as if you know our children quite well, Leader Highbeam.” Starscream glared at him, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. 

Highbeam shrugged a shoulder. “She’s kind of notorious.” 

“For what?” Starscream asked. 

The whole group around them shifted from foot-to-foot and found the ceiling or floor rather interesting all of a sudden. Starscream’s glare intensified. Meanwhile, Megatron was staring at Ursa. She looked so much like him, her stocky frame and grey paint, only missing the purple insignia. 

Megatron nodded his helm, decision made. “Very well, all of you will board the Nemesis in three days time. Gather the things you need, make your arrangements, and whatever else you must. We will share custody, for now.” 

Highbeam turned to Orion. “You don’t have to take it. We’re willing to fight.” 

“I know.” Orion nodded his agreement, all the same. “I’ll tell the girls. We’ll be here in three days.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: 
> 
> Ursa picked up her homework datapads. "Can I still learn on the Decepticon ship? Would I be allowed to be an architect?" 
> 
> Orion bent down on one knee. "I don't know, but we can stock up with dataslugs and datapads. I'll teach you as best I can on the ship." 
> 
> "But you even said yourself you don't know much?" Ursa hugged the tablet to herself. 
> 
> "Then we'll learn together." Orion picked up another toy, a seeker with purple paint. "How about this one?" 
> 
> "No, thank you, but make sure to ask Aurora when she gets back."


	4. Preparations and Discussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Sorry it's been a while to upload, I've been on vacation. Also, I went back and edited a few things from previous chapters (like I fixed a huge continuity issue). You don't have to go back and re-read everything to understand what's going on, but it makes more sense and flows a little better now. Enjoy and hope your 2020 is great!

The guards stayed at the capitol building with Highbeam. A solitary Orion returned home on the transport shuttle. He allowed himself a moment of misery, hanging his helm in his servos and letting his spark sickness take hold. Seeing Megatron and Starscream again hurt, and their anger was a force of nature. He felt flayed deep by it. 

He in-vented hard. He couldn’t let himself buckle under one argument. He knew them, there would be more in the near future. Orion Pax wasn’t a stranger to Megatron’s strength in righteous fury or to Starscream mercurial moods. 

Primus, but he hated how much he still loved them. 

Orion stood up and clenched his fists. He shoved the chaos swirling in his spark. His daughters needed him, and he needed to protect them. He had no idea if Megatron and Starscream would be good sires, he had no idea if they really wanted to be sires or just possess the girls like trophies. He would need to be ready for whatever came next. 

As he exited the shuttle, he found Aurora shouting at Stormcloud and fighting to be free from the femme seeker’s grip. He didn’t catch the words, but he got the gist. 

Aurora saw him. Stormcloud released her and Aurora ran over to her creator with hope in her optics. Orion knelt down and cupped her soft dermal plating. 

“I’m sorry, sweetspark, but we have to leave.” He rubbed a thumb under Aurora’s optic. “But we do have three days to get things ready, and to say goodbye to everyone.”

“No!” Aurora slapped his hand off of her. “No, they’re bad! Creator, you can’t be serious. You can’t let them have us!” 

“Aurora, I’m going with you.” He tried to reach out for her again, but she sidestepped away. “I’ll be with you and your sister. It’ll be fine, your sire-.” 

“IS EVIL!” Aurora stomper her thruster down. “He’s evil, he won’t be a good sire! He kills bots all the time!” 

“Aurora, it’s not that simple.” Orion grabbed her shoulders and gently held on. “Sweetspark he’s not going to hurt you, I promise. I will be there and I will protect you.” 

“No!” Aurora shoved him off again and turned. She transformed and shot off. Orion turned to Stormcloud. 

“I’ll go after her.” Stormcloud was running after Aurora. “Go tell Ursa, I’ll be back when she’s tired herself out!” 

Orion watched with weary optics as Stormcloud transformed into her bigger jet form and followed Aurora across the city. He sighed and trudged into the habsuite. Ursa sat at the table, just finishing her cube. 

“I heard,” Ursa said. “The door was kind of open the whole time.” 

Orion walked over and rubbed her on her helm. “I told them you wanted to stay, but your sire was insistent we go with him.” 

Ursa clutched at her cube and bit her lip. “Did...did he want to see me?” 

Orion smiled as he sat down beside her. “Very much so, Ursa.” He laughed to himself. “He said something to the effect that it was obvious you were his, and Aurora of course Starscream’s.” 

“Yeah, sorry we look so much like them, creator.” Ursa touched his arm.

“Why are you sorry?” Orion plucked her up and put her in his lap. He held her in a loose hug. “I don’t mind at all. If I minded how your sires looked you wouldn’t have been sparked.” 

“Ok, ok!” Ursa scrunched up her face in disgust. “No more details necessary, thanks!” 

Orion chuckled and squeezed her in a gentle hug. “I mean to say I’ve never minded you both look so much like them, not even a little. Besides, you’re both my sparklings, too. Know how I can tell?” 

“Because we’re smart like you?” Ursa asked. 

“Well, that, and you’re both really good at cyber chess. Your sires are awful at it.” Orion kissed the top of her helm and set her on her pedes. “Come on, we’ve got to get you both ready to go.” 

“Are the emergency bags not enough?” Ursa trailed after him into her shared room. 

“Oh, they’re enough for survival.” Orion picked up a broken toy off a shelf. “But don’t you want to keep some of your things? This isn’t like the other times. We can hold onto the things you like.” 

Ursa looked around her room. She walked over to her berth.  Ursa picked up her homework datapads. "Can I still learn on the Decepticon ship? Would I be allowed to be an architect?"

Orion bent down on one knee. "I don't know, but we can stock up with dataslugs and datapads. I'll teach you as best I can on the ship."

"But you even said yourself you don't know much?" Ursa hugged the tablet to herself.

"Then we'll learn together." Orion picked up another toy, a seeker with purple paint. "How about this one?"

"No, thank you, but make sure to ask Aurora when she gets back."

Orion nodded and put it down on Aurora’s berth. “Stormcloud said they’ll be back when Auroroa gets tired.” 

“Is she double grounded now?” 

Orion sighed. “I don’t want to punish her for being upset. She’s scared, it’s understandable.” 

Ursa nodded and gripped her tablet harder. “Yeah, I’m a little scared, too.” 

“And that’s perfectly normal.” Orion rubbed her helm. “Everything is about to change, and that can be scary.” 

“Are you scared?” Ursa put her tablet back on her berth and touched her creator’s face. “You don’t look scared.”

Orion gave her a brave smile. “If I let my fears control me, then trust me, I would’ve never met your sires in the first place.” 

Ursa gave him another scrunched up face. “No details, please.” 

Orion laughed. “No details, it’s just like I told you. I was scared of entering that gladiatorial arena, but I’m glad I did.” He rubbed the side of her cheek with his knuckles. “Because I got you two, and I can never regret having you.” 

~~~

Lord Megatron sat in his throne as Starscream paced before him. Deadlock stood off to the side, arms folded and leaning against the exit wall. Soundwave was typing away on a keyboard in front, no doubt making preparations for their new arrivals. 

Starscream suddenly exploded with, “I can’t believe he never told us!” He whirled around and huffed a volatile breath. “Who does he think he is, keeping our children from us?” 

“I agree,” Megatron said, his voice low timbre. He wanted to crack skulls and let energon spill, but he couldn’t. This impotent fury crawled up from his chestplates and clawed at his throat. “But wearing a ditch into the floor won’t do us any favors.” 

Starscream stopped to glare at him. “Apologies, oh mighty and grand Lord Megatron, but I just discovered I’m a sire!” 

“As have I!” Megatron shouted at him. “Now what are we going to do about it?” 

Starscream’s wings hiked up. “What do you mean? We raise them, obviously!” He threw his hands outwards. “Why? Did you have a different idea?” 

Megatron struggled with the violent urge to slam his mighty fist into the seeker’s scowling face. “I meant about Orion!” 

“What about him?” Starscream’s wings wiggled and he cocked his helm to the side. “Did you have something in mind?” 

“Perhaps.” Megatron smirked. “Orion is their creator, true, but he isn’t the only one who can be persuasive.” 

Starscream put his hands on his hips. “Are you saying we, what? Get the girls to like us? And then...hate Orion?” 

“Oh, I think if we can manage to pit the senators of Cybterton against each other, we can do the same to two children against one mech?” Megatron shrugged a large shoulder. “Although, if you’re not up to the challenge…?” 

“How dare you, of course I am.” Starscream cast his gaze off to the side, thinking it over. “It won’t be easy. They must love him. Love isn’t as easy to overcome as greed or ambition...but it can be done.” 

“Then we will take our time.” Megatron grinned as he stood up. “After all, any good parent must be patient, yes? Even if it takes decacycles, we will win them over.” 

“And get revenge for Orion keeping this secret from us.” Starscream shot him a devilish grin. “Yes, I think I rather like that idea. We would, of course, like to make up for lost time. We should get to have the girls all to ourselves in the coming weeks.”

“Of course, it seems only fair that we should bond with our daughters as soon as possible.” Megatron bared his sharpened denta. “Why not even make sure Orion’s rotation schedule just so happens to fall at night?” 

“And of course, they shouldn’t disturb their exhausted creator while he’s recharging.” Starscream rubbed his servos together. “Yes, I like this plan a lot.” 

Soundwave intoned from his station. “Commencing changes in rotation schedule.” 

“Excellent.” Megatron’s grin faltered. “Starscream, no one knows except for the mechs in this room still?” 

“Yes, why?” Starscream’s brow furrowed in confusion. 

Megatron turned to Deadlock. “I have a task for you, Deadlock.” 

~~~

Aurora zoomed to the outskirts of the city. She knew she couldn’t go outside the city limits, but she needed to burn this ache out. She couldn’t believe her creator let this happen! She couldn’t believe they were leaving, and going to live with the Decepticons? 

She hated it. She hated them. She hated everything! 

“Hey, throttle back there, speedster.” Stormcloud hailed at her over comms. “You’re burnin’ up too hot.” 

“Am not!” Aurora banked and went into a barrel roll. Her teacher kept at her speed. She nudged at Aurora’s cockpit. “Leave me alone!” 

“C’mon, kiddo, we’ve gotta head back. You’ve gotta be runnin’ low.” Stormcloud shot to get in front of her. 

Aurora banked again before heading into a dive. She slowed down and transformed to skip on the pavement of a sidewalk. Stormcloud plopped down right beside her. 

“Hey, you wanna talk about it?” Stormcloud put a hand on her wing. 

Aurora shook her helm. “Nothing to talk about.” 

“Kiddo, it’s ok to not be ok.” Stormcloud picked her up and settled Aurora on her hip. 

Too tired to fight her, Aurora let her head fall onto the light teal seeker’s shoulder. Stormcloud started walking back towards the east side of the city. For a while, there was just an amicable silence. Then, Stormcloud saw two little bots with their creator and sire walking down the lane. Aurora watched them go by with a scowl on her face. 

Stormcloud sighed. “Hey, look, I’m not the kid of some grand revolutionary or anything, but ya know families are all kind of messy.” Stormcloud pointed to herself. “I was cold forged, like most seekers, so I was a factory fresh little bird. I didn’t get a creator and a sire, kiddo, I got two lieutenants! Those two femmes were crazy, too, trust me.” 

“But they weren’t evil,” Aurora argued. “My sire is, and Ursa’s sire is worse. They’re going to get rid of us when they figure out they can’t use us for evil stuff.” 

“Whoa!” Stormcloud bounced her. “Where are you getting all this? Kiddo, Starscream might be a bit of a loose canon, but evil? I dunno, the Cybtertonian Senate was kind of slag-oops, uh, I mean, not nice either.” 

“Whatever, I just don’t wanna go.” Aurora threw her arms around Stormcloud, burying her face in Stormcloud’s neck cables. 

“Orion’s not gonna let anything bad happen to ya,” Stormcloud said into Aurora’s audial. “And like I said, I think you’re really overthinkin’ it. Give your sire a chance to show he’s not the big bad mech you’re so scared of.” 

“I’m not scared of him.” 

“Right, sure,” Stormcloud rolled her optics. “You’re slurrin’ your words, so I’m gonna take you home. Time for some energon and a nap.” 

“No…”

“Yep, in the cockpit you go.” 

~~~

Orion went through his own belongings quick enough. He never really bothered with buying himself many things. Whatever little he had always went to getting the girls new virus upgrades, schools supplies, or coats of fresh paint. He requested for a donation drone, so when a chime came from the front door, he didn’t even think about opening it. 

Deadlock stood there instead of the drone. He waved a little hand and said, “Hi again, Orion.”

“Hello?” Orion set his donation box down. “What are you doing here?” 

“Well, the boss wanted me to keep tabs on the girls.” Deadlock leaned in to whisper, “He also wanted me to spy on you, but I kind of don’t really want to so...just security detail for me.” 

Orion sighed and motioned for him to come inside. “We don’t have a lot of space, I’m afraid.” 

“That’s fine, I’ve recharged in far worse conditions.” Deadlock looked around the kitchen area and gave Orion a half smile. “Huh, it kind of reminds me of those old apartments in Iacon.” 

Ursa ran into the room. Her gaze quickly surveyed Deadlock up and down before sending her creator a confused look. 

Orion smiled down reassuringly. “Ursa, this is Deadlock. He’s an old friend, and he’s here to help keep you safe.” 

Ursa stared at Deadlock and then back to her creator again. “From who? Or what?” 

“Anyone and anything,” Deadlock said as he walked over and knelt down to her level. “I’ve sworn my loyalty to your sire. No matter what, I’ll protect you and your sister from all harm.” 

Ursa blinked her big, round optics. “Um, so like a bodyguard?” 

“Yes, basically.” Deadlock smiled. “Got any bullies I should visit?” 

“Deadlock, no,” Orion said with a soft glare. 

“I’m kidding.” Deadlock waved a hand in dismissal. Then, he turned to Ursa and whispered, “Or am I?” 

Ursa giggled. “I like you! You’re cool.” She grabbed is hand and led him towards her room. “You can help me pack. I don’t think there’s danger, but that’s where I’ll be.” 

“You never know, could be hidden assassins in there!” Deadlock sent Orion a wink over his shoulder and Orion merely rolled his optics at him. 

~~~

Stormcloud returned with Aurora in deep recharge. Orion took his daughter from the seeker’s arms. Stormcloud came inside and noted the noises of bubbling laughter from inside the girls’ room. 

“Ursa’s got a friend over?” Stormcloud asked. 

“Of sorts,” Orion answered. He sat down in a kitchen chair and let Aurora rest a little longer. He tilted his helm back to stare up at the ceiling. “I don’t know how to make any of this more bearable for her.” 

“I tried talkin’ some sense into her.” Stormcloud sat at another chair, careful of her wings. “She’s really on the Decepticons are evil kick.” 

“I know,” Orion rubbed a hand between Aurora’s wings. “She’s still seeing everything as black and white, good or evil. She’ll get past it, someday.” 

“Right.” Stormcloud stared at Orion. “Hey, are you ok there, Pax?” 

“I’ll be fine.” Orion turned his head when the laughter reached a high note in the bedroom. It faded down and he turned back to Stormcloud. “Ursa’s taking it better, for now, but I worry there will be a bigger reaction when we get on the ship.” 

“Like when it really hits her that’s it’s all different now? Yeah, I can see that.” Stormcloud nodded her helm. “You don’t got long, right?” 

“Three days to pack and be ready.” Orion informed her. “I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done.” 

“With the help of friends, idiot.” Stormcloud pointed to herself. “I’m not doin’ much important. Networks can get made any ol’ time. I’m my own boss. Highbeam will be around, I’m sure, and Epirion...well, I dunno the old rust bucket can give you those books he never reads anymore.” 

“Thank you,” Orion smiled at her. “I don’t know what will happen, but I hope I’m making the right choice, for them.” 

Stormcloud’s wings flicked up and down. “You’re making the best choice you can. The girls will be ok. Besides, you don’t think Megatron or Starscream will hurt them, right?” 

Orion thought back to the look on Megatron’s face at Ursa’s picture, and then to Starscream’s first words to him being about their daughter flying solo. He shook his helm. “No, I don’t think so, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.” 

Stormcloud snorted. “No one is a hundred percent sure about most things, but you know them best. Do you think they’ll be good sires?” 

Deadlock came out from the girl’s bedroom with Ursa hanging from his neck. “Oh no! I’ve been attacked-Oh, hello.” Deadlock froze with the giggling sparkling hanging from his neck. 

Orion stared at the trained assassin and then back to Stormcloud. “Something tells me there is a possibility.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: 
> 
> Orion walked with his daughters towards the transport shuttle. Aurora had her wings up high and alert. Ursa held her chin up. His spark swelled with pride. They were ready to face their sires and their new future head on. 
> 
> 'Megatron, Starscream, you had better love them,' Orion thought to himself.


End file.
